The Hardy Boyz were given the last week off by WWE because of legal issues surrounding Jeff Hardy’s past that may have prevented him from getting into Canada for the Raw crew’s three live events and Monday’s Raw in Toronto, according to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. That meant that older brother Matt Hardy was also given the weekend off.
There was also an angle planned for Matt on Raw, according to Meltzer, where Matt would be alone against The Revival to further the storyline between them, but that was pulled from the show due to Scott Dawson’s biceps injury.
The matches at WWE live events were going to see the Hardy Boyz wrestle Sheamus and Cesaro and The Revival in triple threat tag matches. Since the Hardys weren’t there, the matches were changed to Sheamus and Cesaro vs. The Revival, which is weird because both teams are heels. I was at the live event last Sunday night in London, Ontario and asked Sheamus who are we supposed to cheer for in a joking way. He laughed and said: “That’s the question, isn’t it?” Sheamus and Cesaro won the match as the faces.
Jeff Hardy has had numerous legal issues in the past, so crossing the border into Canada can be a concern. If you’ve ever done it then you know it can be a hassle even if you’ve never had legal problems before. Jeff was convicted of felony drug charges and a drug trafficking charge in September 2009, which was shortly after he left WWE in August 2009. Jeff pled guilty to charge that he had Vicodin prescription pills, Soma prescription pills, anabolic steroids, powder cocaine and other drug paraphernalia. Jeff went to jail for 10 days in October 2011, had 30 months of probation and was fined $100,000 for it.
It was also noted by Meltzer that WWE believes they’ll be able to clear up Jeff’s legal issues before their next tour of Canada. That’s good news because the Hardys were advertised for the house shows on WWE.com, so some fans were disappointed not to see them.
As for SummerSlam, it was going to be The Hardys vs. The Revival vs. Gallows and Anderson since those three teams have been building an angle. With The Revival out, it could just be The Hardys vs. Gallows and Anderson. I assume they are going to do that because I find it hard to believe WWE would do SummerSlam without The Hardys, who are one of the most popular acts in the company.
